Surgery Prayers, Please

Hi Carolyn Arends fans. Mark.D here, asking for your prayers. I am scheduled to have bilateral hip replacement surgery (that is, both hips) on Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012. I have a good surgeon, am going to a great hospital and am looking forward to being able to do some things I can't do any longer, post-surgery, of course. But your prayers for a safe and effective surgery will certainly also help! I hope to post frequently about the surgery at markdopita.blogspot.com. Thanks in advance . . . Mark

Songs I've Been Working On

I've been working on some of Carolyn's songs on guitar.  As you may well know, I am not a competent musician by any means.  And, Carolyn uses chords that I find tough (see: "Do We Dare").  Still, I have managed to find a few that I can stumble through.

"Be Still" from Love Was Here First

"Nothing Can Separate" from Love Was Here First

"The Lord's Servant" from Christmas, An Irrational Season

"Last Thursday" from Feel Free

"Father, Thy Will be Done" from Feel Free
"Go With God" from This Much I Understand
"You Take My Soul By Storm" from I Can Hear You

  

Here is my question for any guitarists who stop by this site and who have played Carolyn's songs -- especially if you are not a virtuoso on guitar, but a novice or slightly better (but not much):  Which songs have you learned to play?  Where have you found the chords?  Have you ever taken a really tricky song (see: "Do We Dare") and been able to simplify it while retaining its basic structure?

  

For me, I have found my chords from the Love Was Here First songbook (.pdf file on the CD), from purchasing from Carolyn's store ("The Lord's Servant"), from the Internet ("Last Thursday" and everything else), and from the Feel Free songbook.  I would love to figure out an easier way to play some more of her songs -- especially if anyone out there has "dumbed down" "Do We Dare."

Any insight from visitors would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Barnabas -- Visiting Again for the First Time

I hesitate even to write about how wonderful, gorgeous, blessed, transcendent, sublime Barnabas Family Ministries out there on Keats Island in British Columbia is.  Truly, it's hard enough getting space reserved for the Mark and Carolyn Arends Family Camp sessions without posting publicly about how, once you go, no summer without that experience will ever be complete again.  But, much like sharing the amazing music of Carolyn herself, Barnabas is just too good a thing to keep to oneself. 

Just registered today for our (could it be?) seventh session there.  And this year, I am terribly excited -- even more than usual.  The only thing missing from Barnabas has been our best friends, the Kurzejas.  Every year, I have begged, pleaded, cajoled, and hassled them, and this year was the first time I got anything even close to a "maybe" back.  OK, so they live out in the Midwest and this camp is on the far reaches of the west coast, and there are six of them, so this is a potential logistical nightmare.  But, more of a nightmare would be their having watched all their kids grow up and move on without ever once having experienced together a family camp at Barnabas -- especially one featuring the sage musings of Mr. and Mrs. Arends (and the phenomenal music of Mrs. Arends and Mr. Capier).  So, I took that "maybe" and ran with it.  Jason maintains that there is nothing more dangerous in his world than Justine with an idea and access to a credit card.  I went ahead and registered the Kurzeja Six.  Then, I called the mom up and dared her to cancel on me.

Praying, praying, praying for this one to come to be.  No one I know needs and deserves the absolutely Spirit-soaked adventure in Eden that is a week at Barnabas more than they.  If it is of the Lord, it will come; and, if not, Barnabas has a generous cancellation window. 

I, for one, am hoping beyond hope that I will have the extremely delightful occasion this summer to experience Barnabas again for the very first time through the wonder-filled eyes of my best friend and her family.